Vinyl chloride polymers plasticized with 4-(alkylsulfonyl) morpholines



Still another object of the Patented Aug. 24, 1954 UNQITED snares PATENT OFF-ICE VINYL CHLORIDE POLYMERS PLASTIOIZED' WITH 4- (ALKYLSULFONYL) MOR-PHOLINES J oachim Dazzi, Dayton,

santmChemicalCompa poration 'of Delaware 3"Cla-ims. I l

Thepresent invention relates to new derivatives of morpholine, to a method of preparing the same, and to vinyl chloride polymers plasticized with the morpholine derivatives.

An object of the invention is the provision of new derivatives of morpholine. A further object is the preparation of new and useful compounds.

invention is the proplasticizers for vinyl chloride Other objects will be hereinafter disvision of efficient polymers. closed.

These objects are accomplished by the following invention wherein alkanesulfonyl halides are condensed with morpholine to yield 4-(alkylsulfonylimorpholines substantially according to the scheme bromide,' n-octanesulfonyl fluoride, tert-dodec' anesulfonyl chloride, sec-hexadecanesulfonyl chloride, pentacosanesulfonyl chloride, etc. A1!- kanesu'lfonyl halides preparedby sulfochlorination*of*Ultrax' 20 (Atlantic Refining Corporation) a parafiinic material, b. p. 182 to 204F; at mm. and high in C20 parafiins, are likewise useful.

Dependingupon the nature of the individual alkanesulfonyl halide employed, the condensation may occur under varying conditions of temperature and pressure. However, since the reaction is exothermic, for optimum yields it is advantageous in many instances to employ external cooling in order-to side reactions, e. g., the alkyl group, etc. The present -(a'lkylsul fonyllm'orpholines are prepared by simply contacting the alka nesulfonyl halide with morpholine in-the-presence or absence of an inert diluent, the use of a diluent being advantageous when working'with the higher alkanesulfonyl halides. Inertdiluents which ether;- hexane; carbon prevent or minimize possible tetrachloride, etc. In order mentioned 4- (methyl- Alkanesulfonyl chlorides,

( alkylsulfonyl) morpholines.

isomerization or cleavage of may be employed include:

Ohio, assignor to Monny, St. Louis, Mo., a corto neutralize theevolved hydrogen halide formed, I

for-goodyields it is preferred to conduct the reaction in a basic medium. This may be done either by employing an excess of morpholine, say, atleast two moles of morpholine per mole of the s'ulionyl halide or another basic material which is less' reactive with the sulfonyl halide under-the reaction. conditions than is morpholine, e. g2, organic and inorganic bases which do not contain replaceable hydrogen, such as pyridine,- sodium acetate, orsodium carbonate; or, when operating at low temperatures, aqueous solutions of inorganic alkalies such as sodium or potassium-hydroxide, etc..

Inasmuch as molecular equivalents of the alkanesulfonyl halide and morpholine are involved in the formation of the present l-(alkylsulfonyl)n1orpholines, it is advantageous, when oper-' chloride polymers to which polymers they confer.

a .highdegree oiflexibilityat even.very low temperatures. Compounds. in-whichthe alkyl radical has from 8 to 25 carbonatoms may be advantageously employed as synthetic lubricants. The lower (alkylsulfonyl) morpholines are also useful as insecticides, fungicides and biological .toxicants in general.

4.-(alkylsulfonyl)morpholines in which the al-- kyl radicals have from 8 to 25 carbon atoms are highlyefficient plasticizers for vinyl halide polymers. such as vinyl chloride andvinyl fluoride; A wide variety of polymers and copolymersplasticizershas been employed forthe. purpose of improving the physical properties of vinyl chloride polymers. Particular attentionhas been given to the improvement of and. light.v stability of such.

tions. In. many instances the improvement in flexibility has been obtainable only by sacrificing.

other desirable properties .of an ideal polyvinyl chloride composition. I have foundthat very good flexibility is imparted .to vinyl chloride polymers. when the. present plasticizersv for such polymers.

' The. 4- (alkylsulfonyl) morpholines are valuable plasticizers for polyvinyl chloride and copolyflexibility and heat plasticized composiproducts are employed as 3 mers of at least 70 per cent by weight of vinyl chloride and up to 30 per cent by weight of an unsaturated monomer copolymerized therewith, for example. vinyl acetate, vinylidene chloride, etc. The present compounds impart great flexibility to vinyl chloride polymers at very low temperatures; they are compatible with such polymers, and show no exudation of plasticizereven at plasticizer content of up to 50 per cent.

Although the quantity of plasticizer will depend upon the particular polymer to be plasticized and upon its molecular weight, it is generally found that compositions having from per cent to 50 per cent by weight of plasticizer will, in most cases, be satisfactory for general utility. The good flexibility of the plasticized compositions increases with increasing plasticizer concentration.

In evaluating plasticizer efliciency use is made of the following empirical testing procedures:

CompatibiZity.--Visual inspection of the plasticized composition is employed, incompatibility of the plasticizer with the polymer being demonstrated by cloudiness and exudation of the plasticizer.

Low temperature flexibility-Low temperature flexibility is one of the most important properties of elastomeric vinyl compositions. While many plasticizers will produce flexible compositions at room temperature the flexibility of these .compositions at a low temperature may vary considerably, i. e., plasticized polyvinyl chloride compositions that are flexible at room temperature often become very brittle and useless at low tem peratures. Low temperature flexibility tests herein employed are according to the Clash-Berg method. This method determines the torsional flexibility of a plastic at various temperatures. The temperature at which the vinyl composition exhibits an arbitrarily established minimum flexibility is defined as the Low Temperature Flexibility of the composition. This value may also be defined as the lower temperature limit of the plasticized compositions usefulness as an elastomer.

Water resistance-The amount of water absorption and the amount of leaching that takes place when the plasticized composition is immersed in distilled water for 24 hours is determined.

The invention is further illustrated, but not limited, by the following examples:

EXAMPLE 1 Preparation of -(methylsulfonyl) morpholine 125 g. (1.42 moles) of morpholine and 100 g. of dry ether were placed into a flask which was equipped with stirrer, dropping funnel, thermometer and condenser. After cooling the flask and its contents to a temperature of minus 2 0., there was added a solution of 63 g. (0.55 mole) of methanesulfonyl chloride in 50 ml. of ether. Because precipitation of a solid began immediately after addition of the halide, an additional quantity (ca. 50 ml. of ether) was added. The whole was then stirred for 2 hours at a temperature of from 0 C. to 4 C., and subsequently for an additional hour at room temperature. At the end of that time 100 ml. of water was added and the product was extracted with 1000 m1. of ether. Removal of low-boiling material from the extract (up to 100 C./ mm.) gave a residue which was dissolved in excess methanol, and the resulting solution was boiled in the presence of charcoal, filtered and cooled. From the cooled solution 4 there separated out long white needles of 4* (methylsulfonyl)morpholine, M. P. 98.5 C., and analyzing 8.33 per cent N. (calc. for C5H1103NS, 8.47 per cent NJ.

EXAMPLE 2 Preparation of 4-(n-dodecylsalfoayl)morpholine A solution of 0.5 mole of morpholine in ml. of dry ether was chilled to 0 C. and there was then added to the solution 50 g. of n-l-dodecanesulfonyl chloride dissolved in ml. of ether. The whole was stirred at a temperature of from 0 'C. to 5 C. for 4 hours, then treated with sodium hydroxide and washed until neutral. Fractionation gave substantially pure 4-(n-dodecylsulfonybmorpholine, B. P. to 204 C./0.5 to 1.0 mm., M. P. 745 0., having a free acid value of 0.49 per cent.

EXAMPLE 3 Preparation of 4-(sec.-dodecylsalfonyl)morpho- Zine Into a B-necked 500 ml. flask equipped with stirrer, dropping funnel and thermometer there was added 0.7 mole of morpholine and 100 ml. of ether at a temperature of 0 C. To this mixture there was dropped, during a period of 30 minutes, 0.3 mol of sec.-dodecanesulfonyl chloride (prepared by sulfochlorination of n-dodecane).

The mixture was stirred for 4 hours at a temperature of from 0 C. to 5 C., and then allowed to stand at room temperature for one hour. At the end of that time it was diluted with water and ether. After distilling 011 the solvents there was obtained 80.3 g. (84.4 per cent yield) of substantially pure 4-sec.-dodecylsu1fonyl) morpholine, a light brown liquid, 11. 1.4771.

EXAMPLE 4 Preparation of 4-(sec.heradecylsulfonyl)morpholz'ne 50 g. of see.-hexadecanesulfonyl chloride (prepared by sulfochlorination of n-hexadecane) was gradually added to 0.4 mole of morpholine diluted with 250 ml. of ether and maintained at a temperature of from 0 C. to 3 C. The resultin mixture was then stirred for 4 hours at a temperature of 0 C., then diluted with more ether, washed until neutral, treated with 5 ml. of 10 per cent sodium hydroxide, and again washed until neutral. Removal of the diluent by distillation, and fractional distillation of the residue gave the substantially pure 4-(sec.-hexadecyl sulfonyhmorpholine, B. P. 210 to 230 C./1.6 to

EXAMPLE 5 of 325 F. for a period of 30 minutes the clarity and color of the molded product were substantially unchanged. Tests of the water-resistance properties of the plasticized material employing the test procedure described above showed a solids-loss of only 0.31 per cent and an 0.76 per cent water absorption value.

Similar testing of the plasticizing properties of 4-(n-dodecylsulfonyl)morpholine showed that this normal analogue was not so good a plasticizer for polyvinyl chloride as was the 4-(sec.- dodecylsulfonyl) morpholine.

EXAMPLE 6 Operating as in Example but employing 4-(sec.-hexadecylsulfonyl)morpholine instead of the morpholine derivative of Example 5, there was obtained a plasticized polyvinyl chloride composition having a low temperature flexibility value of minus 29 C. Tests of the Water-resistance properties of the plasticized material employing the test procedure described above showed a solids-loss of only 0.27 per cent and an 0.80 per cent water absorption value.

Instead of the morpholine derivatives employed in the above examples, other 4-(alkylsulfonyhmorpholines in which the alkyl radical has from 8 to 25 carbon atoms give similarly valuable plasticized polyvinyl chloride compositions. Thus, by employing 40 parts by weight of 4- (Z-ethylhexylsulfonyl) morpholine, 4- (sec.- octadecylsulfonyl)morpholine or 4-(sec.-pentacosylsulfonyl) morpholine with 60 parts by weight of polyvinyl chloride or with 60 parts by Weight of a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer known to the trade as Vinylite, there may be obtained clear, colorless compositions of very good flexibility and stability.

While the above examples show only a composition in which the ratio of plasticizer to polymer content is 40:60, this ratio being employed in order to get comparable eificiencies, the content of the (alkylsulfonyl)morpholine compound to polyvinyl chloride may be widely varied, depending upon the properties desired in the final product. For many purposes a plasticizer content of, say, from only 10 per cent to 20 per cent is preferred. The present esters are compatible with polyvinyl chloride over a wide range of concentrations, up to 30 per cent of esters based on the total weight of the yielding desirable products.

Although the invention has been described with particular reference to the use of the present 4- plasticized composition present morpholine (alkylsulfonyl)morpholines as plasticizers for polyvinyl chloride, these compounds are advantageously employed also as plasticizers for copolymers of vinyl'chloride, for example, the copolymers of vinyl chloride with vinyl acetate, vinylidene chloride, etc. Preferably, such copolymers have a high vinyl chloride content, 1. e., a vinyl chloride content of at least '70 per cent by Weight of vinyl chloride and up to 30 percent by weight of the copolymerizable monomer.

The plasticized polyvinyl halide compositions of the present invention have good thermal stability; however, for many purposes it may be advantageous to use known stabilizers in the plasticized compositions. Inasmuch as the present morpholine derivatives are unreactive with the commercially available heat and light stabilizers which are commonly employed with polyvinyl chloride or copolymers thereof, the presence of such materials in the plasticized products does not impair the valuable properties of the compounds. 4-(alkylsulfonyDmorpholines in which the alkyl' radicals have from 8 to 25 carbon atoms are of general utility in softening vinyl chloride polymers. They may be used as the only plasticizing component in a compounded vinyl chloride polymer or they may be used in conjunction with other plasticizers.

This application is a division of my copending applicationserial No. 170,463, filed June 26, 1950, now Patent No. 2,644,819.

What I claim is:

1. A resinous composition comprising polyvinyl chloride plasticized with a 4-(alkylsulfonyl)morpholine in which the alkyl radical has from 8 to 25 carbon atoms.

2. A resinous composition comprising polyvinyl chloride plasticized with a 4-(alkylsulfonyl)morpholine in which the alkyl radical has from 8 to 25 carbon atoms, said 4-(alkylsulfonyl) morpholine being from 5 to per cent of the weight of the composition.

3. A resinous composition comprising polyvinyl chloride plasticized with from 5 to 50 per cent of 4- (sec.-hexadecylsulfonyl) morpholine, based on the weight of the composition.

No references cited. 

